What Makes Jesus' Yoke Light? (Matthew 11:1-30) Series

Jesus is gentle. Jesus is humble. And Jesus is, by nature, a servant.

Jesus is the kind of boss, or king, that's a privilege to serve. The kind who understands your weaknesses. The kind who wants only what's best for you. The kind who values you, and who doesn't exalt himself over you.

Jesus has set the bar really high. But he's not walking around with a ruler, ready to rap knuckles. He's not walking around with a scowl, picking fights. Jesus wants only what's best for you. He is a good Lord. A good Davidic king. A good Messiah.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's possible this morning that some of you aren't really Jesus' disciples. You'd call yourselves "Christians." But you've never taken Jesus' yoke on. You've "heard" Jesus' words, but you don't "do" them.

Maybe, you live this way because you think Jesus "fulfilled" the law by dying on the cross. You've misunderstood what Jesus wanted, and what Jesus did. And you didn't even know there was a yoke. That was me, for sure, until I was 15. I remember sitting in a cabin at camp, reading a book about following Jesus, and realizing that I wasn't truly Jesus' disciple. A shocking moment. In that moment, I submitted to Jesus. I repented. And I took Jesus' yoke on, and became his disciple.

Or maybe, you live this way because you live with a misunderstanding of Paul. Your whole life, you've been warned that "works" don't do anything. You've been warned against "legalism," and against focusing too much on obedience. I've been in multiple churches where any talk of commitment, and self-sacrifice, and yokes, leads someone to pipe up quickly, "We will always sin." Talk about loyalty, and living a cross-shaped life, for very long, and people get nervous.

In every church, it seems like someone always tries to lower the bar.

But Jesus says, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes, you won't enter God's kingdom" (Matthew 5:20). Jesus says, "Be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect." That's the bar. That's the expectation. When you sin, you confess, and repent (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). But you don't live in sin. You live, consecrated to God.

There is no difference between a Christian and a disciple (Acts 11:26). It's not a two step process, where you become a Christian first, and then later, optionally, Jesus' disciple. Jesus is really clear: if you don't "hear" his words, and "do" them, you are not his disciple. There is no discipleship, apart from taking on his law (Matthew 7:23; it's really important we translate that literally, "the ones working the lawlessness"-- we need to hear "law" in his words there; it ties the whole "sermon" together). And you will not be safe on the day of judgment.